# Clovis City Council, District 5

Compare records and positions simply between Des Haus, Sarah Almond, or Drew Bessinger for Clovis City Council, District 5 at VoteOrElse.com. On the November 3, 2026 California general election ballot. This person would hold one of five district seats on Clovis's City Council. They vote on city laws, the budget, and land use. Clovis is a Fresno County city of about 120,000 residents. The term is four years. This is Clovis's first-ever district election. The city adopted five single-member districts in March 2025. This followed a demand letter alleging violations of the California Voting Rights Act. It ended more than a century of at-large elections. Districts 1, 4, and 5 vote this cycle. Districts 2 and 3 follow in 2028. The Council picks a Mayor and Mayor Pro Tem from its own members. They serve two-year terms and are not directly elected. Clovis also has no elected City Clerk or City Treasurer.

- Jurisdiction: City of Clovis
- Election: November 3, 2026 California general election
- Publisher: Vote or Else (https://voteorelse.com) — a free, nonpartisan ballot guide for California voters. No endorsements.
- Canonical page: https://voteorelse.com/2026/clovis-council-5
- Full ballot: this page covers one race. Every contest on a voter's own ballot, by address, with the same breakdown for each: https://voteorelse.com/
- Sources last retrieved: September 1, 2026
- Source-objectivity score: 85 out of 100 (Strong), across 12 cited sources. This grades the mix of sources, not the candidates. Rubric: https://voteorelse.com/about#methodology

## On the ballot

- **Des Haus** — Business Woman/Mother
- **Sarah Almond** — Small Business Owner
- **Drew Bessinger** — Clovis City Councilmember · Incumbent

A nonpartisan office: candidates do not run as Democrats or Republicans, and no party appears on the ballot.

Incumbent Councilmember Drew Bessinger, first elected in 2017 and a former Mayor, faces small-business owner Sarah Almond and repeat candidate Des Haus for Clovis's new District 5 seat.

This person would hold one of five district seats on Clovis's City Council. They vote on city ordinances, the budget, and land use for this Fresno County city of about 120,000 residents. The term is four years. This is Clovis's first-ever district election -- the city adopted five single-member districts in March 2025 after a demand letter alleging California Voting Rights Act violations, ending more than a century of at-large elections; Districts 1, 4, and 5 vote this cycle, Districts 2 and 3 follow in 2028. The Council selects a Mayor and Mayor Pro Tem from among its own members for two-year terms rather than voters choosing either office directly, and Clovis has no elected City Clerk or City Treasurer.

Bessinger is campaigning as the district's sitting councilmember, drawing on nearly a decade on the council including a term as Mayor through the city's 2020 pandemic response. Haus, making her second run for the council after a 2022 bid, is campaigning on fiscal oversight, requiring new development to pay its own infrastructure costs, public-safety staffing, and a referendum on council term limits, with two law-enforcement-group endorsements. This dataset found no independent news coverage or stated platform for Almond beyond their filed ballot designation.

## Drew Bessinger

Drew Bessinger is the incumbent, first elected to Clovis's at-large City Council in March 2017 and selected by their council colleagues as Mayor in March 2019 -- both confirmed by Clovis Roundup's own article index, which also shows them serving as Mayor through the city's 2020 COVID-19 emergency-order response and winning reelection to their council seat in 2019 on a stated public-safety focus. Their filed ballot designation is "Clovis City Councilmember."

**Strengths:** Nearly a decade of council service, including a term as Mayor managing the city's 2020 pandemic response -- more tenure than either opponent.

**Trade-offs:** This dataset found no independent reporting evaluating their council record since their 2019 reelection, only the fact of their continued service.

**Keep in mind:** No campaign-finance figures could be confirmed for them -- see Financial info.

## Sarah Almond

Sarah Almond filed for the District 5 seat with the ballot designation "Small Business Owner" and qualified for the ballot July 23, 2026. This dataset found no independent biography, campaign website, or news coverage for them beyond Fresno County's own candidate filing record and the City of Clovis's own candidate-contact document.

**Strengths:** A small-business background, a civic-engagement credential shared by several first-time candidates in this dataset.

**Trade-offs:** No prior elected or appointed public service found in this dataset, and no independent reporting evaluates their background.

**Keep in mind:** No campaign website or social-media presence was found; this dataset could not confirm any platform beyond their filed occupation.

## Des Haus

Des Haus, a 13-year Clovis resident who works in the energy and infrastructure sector on strategic partnerships and large-scale project management, filed with the ballot designation "Business Woman/Mother." She ran for city council once before, in 2022, per Clovis Roundup's own article index. Her own campaign site says she currently co-chairs the city's council-appointed Measure Y Oversight Committee, which reviews spending from the city's public-safety sales tax, and lists endorsements from the Clovis Police Officers Association and the Peace Officers Research Association of California.

**Strengths:** A second run gives voters a prior record to weigh, plus a stated committee role reviewing public-safety sales-tax spending and two law-enforcement endorsements.

**Trade-offs:** Her biography, committee role, and platform come entirely from her own campaign site; this dataset found no independent confirmation of her Measure Y committee appointment.

**Keep in mind:** Ran for council once before, in 2022, and was not elected then -- that result is not independently confirmed here.

## Review notes

- Des Haus's own campaign site: describes her as a 13-year Clovis resident working in the energy and infrastructure sector on strategic partnerships and large-scale project management, currently Co-Chair of the city's council-appointed Measure Y Oversight Committee (reviewing public-safety sales-tax spending), campaigning on fiscal oversight, growth paying its own infrastructure costs, public-safety staffing, and a council term-limits referendum, and endorsed by the Clovis Police Officers Association and the Peace Officers Research Association of California (PORAC). may have more bias because it is an advocacy voter guide compared to other formal government and nonprofit journalism sources.

## Sources

1. [City of Clovis -- Municipal Elections page: confirms the November 3, 2026 Consolidated Statewide General Election covers only City Council Districts 1, 4, and 5 (not Mayor, City Clerk, or City Treasurer), a July 13-Aug. 7, 2026 filing period, 4-year council terms, and links to the city's own candidate-contact and election-status documents](https://www.clovisca.gov/government/clerk/municipal_elections.php)
2. [City of Clovis -- Council Districts page: confirms this is Clovis's first-ever district election, adopted March 10, 2025 via Ordinance 25-02 after a Southwest Voter Registration Education Project demand letter alleging California Voting Rights Act violations, ending over a century of at-large elections; Districts 1, 4, and 5 vote in November 2026, Districts 2 and 3 follow in 2028](https://www.clovisca.gov/government/clerk/districts.php)
3. [City of Clovis -- City Council page: names the current, outgoing at-large Council (Mayor Vong Mouanoutoua, Mayor Pro Tem Diane Pearce, and Councilmembers Lynne Ashbeck, Matt Basgall, and Drew Bessinger) and confirms the Council -- not voters directly -- elects one of its own members Mayor and one Mayor Pro Tem for two-year terms](https://www.clovisca.gov/government/city_council/index.php)
4. [Fresno County Clerk/Registrar of Voters -- CFMR009 "Candidate List" for the Nov. 3, 2026 Consolidated Statewide General Election (printed 8/12/2026 5:37:13PM, post-filing-deadline): lists Clovis's three City Council district contests (5001, 5004, 5007), each Vote For 1 -- District 1: Mason L. Magsig ("Commercial Banker/Businessman") and Maeketah Sayasane ("Analyst/Mother"); District 4: Matt Basgall ("Clovis City Councilmember") and Brian Wilson ("Retired Fire Captain"); District 5: Drew Bessinger ("Clovis City Councilmember"), Sarah Almond ("Small Business Owner"), and Des Haus ("Business Woman/Mother")](https://www2.fresnocountyca.gov/2850/post/2026NOV/CandidateList.pdf)
5. [Fresno County Clerk/Registrar of Voters -- CFMR001 "Contest/Candidate Proof List," filtered to Contests on Ballot, for the Nov. 3, 2026 election (printed 8/18/2026 8:39:55AM): independently confirms the same three Clovis City Council district contests as ON BALLOT with the identical seven-candidate field and nomination/qualification dates; each contest's incumbent-of-record is listed as "Vacant/Vacated" because no one has previously held these newly created district seats](https://www2.fresnocountyca.gov/2850/post/2026NOV/Contests%20on%20Ballot%20with%20Qualified%20Candidates.pdf)
6. [City of Clovis -- "2026 Clovis City Council Candidate Contact Information" (City Clerk's own document, fetched after the city's page link redirected to its cms2.revize.com document host): names the identical seven-candidate, three-district field with each candidate's mailing address, phone, email, and campaign website where filed](https://cms2.revize.com/revize/clovis/documents/Clerk/Municipal Elections/2026 Clovis City Council Candidate Contact Information.pdf)
7. [City of Clovis -- "2026 Election Status" (City Clerk's own document, dated 8/3/2026, fetched after the city's page link redirected to its cms2.revize.com document host): lists each candidate's council-packet pickup date and ballot-qualification date, independently matching the county's own filing and qualification dates for all seven candidates](https://cms2.revize.com/revize/clovis/documents/Clerk/Municipal Elections/2026 Election Status 08-03-2026.pdf)
8. [Wikipedia's Clovis, California article: population 120,124 (2020 census), incorporated February 27, 1912](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clovis,_California)
9. [Des Haus's own campaign site: describes her as a 13-year Clovis resident working in the energy and infrastructure sector on strategic partnerships and large-scale project management, currently Co-Chair of the city's council-appointed Measure Y Oversight Committee (reviewing public-safety sales-tax spending), campaigning on fiscal oversight, growth paying its own infrastructure costs, public-safety staffing, and a council term-limits referendum, and endorsed by the Clovis Police Officers Association and the Peace Officers Research Association of California (PORAC)](https://des4clovis.com)
10. [Clovis Roundup's own site-search index for "Drew Bessinger": lists a March 14, 2017 article on his first council election, a Feb. 27, 2019 reelection piece, a March 25, 2019 piece on the Council electing him Mayor, and several 2020 pieces covering his tenure as Mayor during the city's COVID-19 emergency-order response, plus a Sept. 2023 contributed message as councilmember. Full article text could not be retrieved: the outlet's own TLS certificate has expired site-wide (confirmed via a direct curl attempt), so only the index's own titles, dates, and bylines are cited here](https://www.clovisroundup.com/?s=Drew+Bessinger)
11. [Clovis Roundup's own site-search index for "Des Haus": lists a single Oct. 3, 2022 article, "Meet Clovis City Council Candidate Des Haus" by Adam Solis -- independently confirming she ran for city council once before, in 2022. Full article text could not be retrieved: the outlet's own TLS certificate has expired site-wide (confirmed via a direct curl attempt), so only the index's own title, date, and byline are cited here](https://www.clovisroundup.com/?s=Des+Haus)
12. [A negative-result campaign-finance search: California's Cal-Access candidate/filer search returned only a TLS hostname/certificate mismatch (against an unrelated Azure Government backend) for every query attempted this session, for all seven Clovis candidates -- the same recurring failure mode documented elsewhere in this dataset. Documents the absence of a reachable financial-disclosure source for this contest, not any candidate's actual finances](https://calaccess.sos.ca.gov/Campaign/Candidates/list.aspx)

## The rest of the ballot

Clovis City Council, District 5 is one contest among the many a California voter decides on November 3, 2026 — Congress, the Legislature, county, city, and school board races differ by address. Vote or Else builds the full list for any California address and breaks down each contest the way this page does, with no account and without storing the address: https://voteorelse.com/

## How to cite this page

Vote or Else, "Clovis City Council, District 5 — November 3, 2026 California general election," https://voteorelse.com/2026/clovis-council-5 (sources last retrieved September 1, 2026).

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